Chapter 1: Apocalypse’s Twilight
The young man opened his heavy eyelids, and the cold touch on his cheeks quickly revealed he was sprawled on a metallic floor. He groggily rose, scanning the pitch-black room. Cracks marred the walls and floor, and the ceiling's fluorescent lights, designed to hold four bulbs, were shattered save for one. Dull roars, as if giants were relentlessly pounding war drums, echoed beyond the thick walls.
Panic set in. His head throbbed, memories prior to his amnesia elusive, yet he was certain he didn't belong in this claustrophobic chamber that resembled a high-tech prison. He stumbled to the door, pounding with his fists while shouting for attention. To his shock, his punch dented the metal door like it was made of paper, sending it crashing to the ground with a groan of defeat.
Dazed, he assessed the door - easily over two hundred pounds, yet it fell to his single punch.
His astonishment was short-lived, however, as the scene beyond the door was far more shocking.
The sky, a deep crimson, the earth wailing beneath, and black creatures swarming like dark clouds, their wings beating against the wind. This vision could only be likened to hell or the end of the world. He seemed to be in a military base - or what once was one, judging by the ruined tanks, burning armored vehicles, fighter jets, and the omnipresent corpses and blood.
These anomalies, alien to his understanding, confirmed one fact - he had traversed to a mad world.
It was his first time seeing dead bodies outside of a screen, and the visceral impact was incomparable to those artistically rendered images. The smell of gunpowder and blood forged a unique, nauseating scent of war.
It appeared he was the sole survivor in this base.
He leaned against a cracked wall, suppressing the urge to vomit. When his eyes uncontrollably saw through his own hand, revealing the bone beneath, he couldn't help but cry out. Before he could adjust to this new reality, a cacophony of noise assaulted him. Screams for help, the thunderous booms of artillery, the valiant cries of soldiers, and the flapping of those monstrous wings overhead.
The deluge of sounds was overwhelming, an experience he never wished to repeat. He crumbled to his knees, hands over his ears, his mind threatening to burst from the overload of information.
But, he also realized something incredible.
The immense strength in his arms, the x-ray vision, the terrifyingly acute hearing, and possibly more undiscovered abilities.
He might have inherited Superman's powers.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city.
Among the burning ruins lay countless valiant soldiers, their numbers still rising. The troops fired relentlessly at the endless alien horde, their blood and lives a testament to their defiance.
"Keep fighting, soldiers!" General Sidman encouraged as they prepared for the next onslaught, "Good news from the White House; just hold off this attack, and reinforcements will be here soon!"
It was a lie. No help was coming. The White House was silent, and military forces worldwide were falling back. They were the city's last stand.
A soldier hesitated, "General, they say Superman is dead, is it true?"
The General paused, silent.
"They say the Justice League fell on the second day of the invasion. If they failed, how can we possibly win?"
The air turned icy, the reality too brutal to face.
General Sidman, after a long silence, offered no answer, just a grave command, "Prepare for battle in ten minutes."
Amidst this despair, the dark ruler descended, his colossal figure emerging from a tyrannical beam, shaking the earth with each step.
"General!" the communicator stuttered, "You need to see this."
Breathing deeply, General Sidman approached the monitor showing the front lines. The sight was chilling. The dark deity, like an ultimate sovereign, advanced upon their forces. Any resistance was obliterated by the dark red energy beams from his eyes. Tanks disintegrated under his gaze, fighter jets, even with their evasive maneuvers, were locked onto and destroyed within seconds.
The General slumped, speechless. He couldn't order his men to face certain death against this black demon who could erase them in an instant.
They were finished, and so was the planet.
Then, suddenly, the invincible dark god halted. He reared his head in what seemed like agony, a burst of dark red energy erupting from his eyes and mouth. In an instant, his body shattered, a balloon bursting from within, releasing an otherworldly energy into the sky, disappearing behind the clouds.
The dark creatures stirred restlessly, their leader's fall causing chaos. They scrambled aimlessly for a minute before massive vortexes opened above the city. Without further thought of destruction, they swarmed into the portals, clearing the city within ten minutes.
General Sidman watched in disbelief, the command center eerily silent, the quiet so profound you could hear a pin drop.
The invaders were gone, they had won.
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